Motivational Speech from an unlikely source

I'm always on the lookout for motivational clips and speeches or little snippets that I can use in training courses and for presentations. I was a little surprised at how good the motivational element of this clip is considering the source (although I am a closet Rocky fan...who isn't really?)

Methods of Improving Motivation

Motivation is the ability to use your deepest emotions to move and guide you towards your goals. This ability enables you to take the initiative and persevere in the face of obstacles and setbacks. The following suggestions might also help.

Focus on what you want – If you’re finding it difficult to motivate yourself, perhaps you are not doing what you want to do. Consider what you enjoy and work towards that.

Also, if you focus on the negative aspect of what you don’t want and spend your time moving away from the bad, you may find that you do not feel happy with where you end up. The ‘away from’ motivator is useful to start with, but it is directionless and you should choose a ‘toward’ motivator at the earliest opportunity.

Set a date for your goal – This is crucial. Without a set date of achievement your goal is left hanging and becomes a vague notional wish. Set a date, and if you don’t quite make it, re-assess.

Make the goal compelling – If your goal is not attractive, then you are less likely to work towards in a positive way.

Set milestones – If the goal seems overwhelming, break it down into milestones. This will help you to achieve it by making it seem less daunting.

If it’s not a fun goal, focus on the end result – When your goal seems more of chore, but it simply has to be done, target the end result rather than the drudgery of the task. This way you can focus on the positive feeling of achieving the goal rather than the pain of the task itself.

This is a short excerpt from the Trainers Notes in the Trainer Bubble Training Material, 'Emotional Intelligence at Work'. Visit Trainer Bubble today to buy this great resource.

Handling Allegations of Bullying and Harassment

Harassment and bullying behaviour in the workplace is unpleasant and offensive. It can affect an individual’s professional performance and psychological welfare, and can be so destructive that the effects continue after work, devastating personal lives as well as careers. Harassment and bullying can result in low morale, increased sickness absence or resignations.

If a complaint is made to an Employment Tribunal, or civil proceedings taken to court, an organisation may also suffer expensive litigation, adverse publicity and a loss of customers. It is in everyone’s best interests to have a workplace free of harassment and bullying.

It can often be difficult for a leader within an organisation to know exactly what to do when allegations arise. The following is list of tips to help you.

Investigate Immediately

Time is critical in harassment cases and all instances should be addressed as soon as the complainant has raised the issue. It is likely that the alleged bullying or harassment has gone on for some time and has reached a point where the complainant feels they have run out of options. There is no benefit in hoping that the situation will ‘blow over’.

Take the Complaint Seriously

Employees are unlikely to complain unless they feel they have no other options. A response from you that is deemed unreasonable or dismissive will exacerbate the situation and likely cause issues further down the line.

Be Objective and Independent

Irrespective of the feelings you have for those involved in the case, it is important that you remain objective and independent of the situation at all times. Although sometimes difficult, you must ensure that your own feelings and opinions do not enter into the equation. All parties involved will be looking for support from you and it is imperative that you remain professional throughout the process. If you are seen to imply favouritism, the consequences could be damaging.

Attempt to Resolve Informally

Informal resolution of harassment and bullying cases can be the least damaging for all involved. Often the person that carries out the harassment or bullying is unaware of the affect their behaviour is having on the individual concerned. Wherever possible it is best to rectify these matters without damaging the reputation of all involved. Sometimes the complainant will be happy to approach the person/s themselves or they may need support from others i.e. manager, colleague, HR.

Ensure Confidentiality

As a general principle, confidentiality should be agreed and maintained. In some instances it will be necessary to involve others in the discussions in order to progress a complaint. However, the decision should be made by the complainant as to whether to involve anyone else.

In cases of this nature hearsay and gossip tend to arise. It is important that you remain impartial and act as the soul of discretion. Any other type of behaviour can result in legal implications for you.

Follow Organisation Policies and Guidelines

Most organisations will have guidelines and policies for disciplinary, grievance, bullying or harassment cases. They will have been drafted carefully and with the organisation and its employee’s specific interests in mind, so it is crucial that you follow them. Don’t be reluctant to seek help if you are unsure of the procedures or need advice.

This article is an excerpt from our training materials on Bullying & Harassment. Visit Trainer Bubble today to download this business critical course.

Dress the Room - by Wolfgang Halliwell

As soon as I walked into the room I knew this would be no ordinary training event.

Colourful posters adorned the wall. The tables were arranged into a cafeteria style. Each table had a small bowl of fruit instead of the usual mints. There were also a few colourful toys together with some coloured pencils and marker pens.

I also distinctly remember the lively and positive music being played – ‘I feel good’ by James Brown.

Never before had I experienced anything quite like this, and I really did feel good. This warm and welcoming atmosphere put me in exactly the right mood to participate and to learn and was the start of one of the best three day courses I have ever attended.

The experience had a big effect on me and from that time onwards I have always paid a lot of attention to setting up the venue before any training event. The aim is to help participants get into the right learning state in rich and multi-sensory way.

Although some people arrive looking a little puzzled and even suspicious I find that they soon put this to one side. Most soon have smiles on their faces and tend to respond positively when we start work.

Of course, it is not only the participants who benefit from this. By setting up a positive atmosphere it really does make me feel good and puts me in a positive mental state. This in turn benefits the learners who always get the best from me.

If you struggle to generate ‘life’ into your courses try giving extra thought into the way you set up the room. And, don’t forget the lively and positive music. This won’t breathe life into a lifeless but it’s a good start. Soon you will find yourself being more adventurous in the things you try during your training, and that will be to everyone’s benefit.

Wolfgang is an author of training course materials and resources for Trainer Bubble.

Think Your Way to Success

One issue that our subconscious has is that it cannot process negative thoughts. In other words if I were to say to you now…

“Don’t think of a blue duck”

What do you think of? That’s right…

A blue duck.

We commonly make this very mistake with children. Let’s say they have a glass of milk and we say, “Don’t spill that milk.” What happens next?

Of course, in order to think of not spilling the milk they have to first think of spilling it. That’s the exact same time that your carpet gets ruined!

If one small statement like this can have an impact, imagine what happens when we have months or even years of conditioning. Once we realise that our subconscious cannot differentiate between a negative and positive statement it becomes clear why we tend to fail with the goals we set ourselves.

Picture the person that decides to lose weight, every time they look in the mirror they think ‘fat, fat, fat’. Each time they open the fridge they think ‘don’t eat this, don’t eat that.’ Their subconscious is only hearing fat, fat, fat as if that is the way things should be and if it’s receiving a message of ‘don’t eat’ and it can’t process negative thoughts, what is the message it’s getting?

…Eat, exactly. So with this one typical example we realise how our desire to get fit can become an exercise in getting bigger.

You may not even realise it when you use negatives words and phrases. Regardless, if you use them enough, they can condition you to think negatively, too. Before you know it, little negatives will clutter up your mind, as well as your conversation.

You now know that our subconscious needs positives to work on and if you want positive outcomes, then you must…

FOCUS ON WHAT YOU WANT, NOT WHAT YOU DON'T

This short excerpt comes from our training resource, 'Think Your Way to Success', which you can purchase from our website for just £47.

Poems in training - A metaphor for success

Poems and stories can provide powerful metaphors in training, particularly when you are trying to get a motivational point across. If you think about the things you remember from your past education, you will probably note that most of them have come from rhymes or stories of some kind. I mean how did you learn to say your A,B,C's? I bet you're even saying the rhyme in your head right now!

I find that participants respond extremely well when you sum up a topic with a rhyme that fits the occasion and there are so many wonderful examples to be taken from past literature that it really doesn't have to take too much time looking for them either. An example of this for me was the subject of 'procrastination'. I really struggled to get the point across to learners when approaching what is a pretty dry topic. However, once I added the concept of 'Swallow the frog' (shamelessly stolen from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn) they really started to get it. Now I quite often here people saying "Come on, just swallow the frog!" In case you are wondering, the phrase relates to a section in the book where Tom Sawyer says, "If you have to swallow a frog, don't look at it too long." (i.e. the more you delay doing a bad task, the worse it gets).

When there is no useful metaphor to be found, I sometimes come up with my own. It really isn't that hard to do and takes me back to my 'poetry time' sessions in school. Here is an example of one of my poems to get you going.

My Friendly Enemy

You pick me up,
You put me down,
I’m controlled by your desire.

You’ve made me friends,
You’ve caused me fights,
I’ve even been your liar.

No solitude when you’re around,
No bitterness or tears,
Cause and solution to my struggles,
Both creating and easing fears.

I think it’s time I took control,
I don’t mean to be rude,
I’m the boss, you have to learn,
My bittersweet attitude.

Try adding poems and stories into your own training sessions, you'll find it really helps the subject stick and if you're struggling for ideas, visit my website and pinch some of mine!

Continuous Improvement - One small step...

There's a true story about a group of Japanese managers of a steel manufacturing plant that visited a UK plant. Both plants were very similar only the Japanese one was making profit and the UK one was losing money.

At the end of the visit, the owner of the UK plant turned to the Japanese boss and said, "There's obviously something you've got right, that we haven't. What 's the big difference?"

The head of the Japanese steel plant politely turned and said, "There is not one big difference, but we do have one or two suggestions..." He then proceeded to list 124 ways the manufacturing plant could improve! An example was this...

When the blast-furnace doors opened to let a steel ingot roll out, the Japanese doors opened two inches less than the UK doors. So less heat was lost and it took less time (and money) to heat the furnace back up again. It wasn't much, but over time the saving was worthwhile. Added to the other 123 examples, the changes made a profit.

The moral?

Stop looking for the one big thing that's wrong with your business or even your life and realise that sometimes it's the little things that make a big difference.

Achieving Your Goals - Keeping things on track

Apparently when riding the underground people look up at the map and check their progress on average every 40 seconds. Most of these people know exactly where they are going and when they will get there, so why do they do it? I suspect the answer has a lot to do with the need to track advancement and ensure that they are indeed reaching their destination, which is a bit strange considering they are on a rail and the likelihood of them not getting there is pretty much zero.

Now let’s translate this to our own goals, whether they are in life, work, sport or whatever, we are consistently told how important they are and I am sure that most people set them in one way or another. However, the question is this…

‘How often do you track your progress and ensure that you are indeed reaching your destination?’

Individuals, businesses and even parents have become great at developing goals and targets, whilst not only ensuring they are smart, but also placing them in a gorgeous laminated folder and filing them under ‘G’. The same can also often be said for business strategies. People seem to enjoy setting them (or more likely feel they have to), but when it comes to implementation something falls down.

Let’s go back to that underground journey. Imagine you realise that you’re on the wrong train and are not going to make your destination. What do you do? Well of course, you would get off and find the next available train that gets you to your stop. Maybe you would need to adapt your journey a bit and perhaps even get more than one train, but it’s far better than staying on the original train and ending up somewhere you don't want to be.

Seems obvious really, doesn’t it? Yet, in business and in life we continually fail to do this very thing. It’s as if we set our goals and then forget we ever did them. Only once we’ve reached our destination (the wrong one) do we turn around and look for someone to blame.

You see it couldn’t be your fault; you set the goal, so the hard part was done, surely? Well no, just as the driver is not to blame for the fact you are on the wrong track, your team, your friends, your enemies are not to blame for your failure to achieve your goal. If you didn’t check your progress, it’s your fault you end up in the wrong place.

Visit Trainer Bubble, where you can download complete course materials on Commerciality, which focuses on developing business goals. At just £53 you can't afford not to!

Understanding People's Behaviour - Banging your head against a wall?

I just came home to find my 13 month old son giggling loudly to himself whilst banging his head against the living room wall. My immediate response was to say, "Son, you're an idiot." and only once I'd managed to distract him from this pain inducing activity did I consider the possible consequences of my words.

Maybe this one time I was right to call him an idiot. Certainly banging your head against a wall is not the action you would expect from a sound mind. However, let's consider I call my son an idiot consistently over the next few developmental years. The likely outcome is.......an idiot.

You see everyone's behaviour is driven by their own self-image, and that self-image is built around the adult influences they receive in their childhood. These influences come not only from parents, but grandparents, uncles, aunts, teachers, sports coaches and pretty much anyone that they have regular contact with.

It is these influences that create our attitudes and ultimately our behaviours. For example; somebody that has always been told that they should stand up for themselves may ultimately become aggressive when placed in a stressful situation. Or somebody that is encouraged to always share and make others happy may develop a need to please people and will display submissive behaviour at times. I experienced this last type of behaviour with an old colleague of mine. Whenever we held a meeting he would wonder why he always walked away with more action points than anyone else!

Think about your own experience. Is there something you believe about yourself, which has been influenced by others? You may find that hard to do, as these beliefs have become a part of you and are shaping your behaviour all the time. However, they are there in all of us in varying forms.

Now, these drivers are not in themselves a problem. We all need drivers in our life, without them we would not achieve anything. It is when these drivers become negative or destructive that issues arise. There may have been times in your own experience where a person’s behaviour has seemed out of control or perhaps it was just that their driver was conflicting with yours.

So what can you do?

One thing you have to accept is that every person’s behaviour makes perfect sense to them at the time. Nobody sets out to make their life difficult and often it is because they feel they have no alternative in the given situation. No matter how bizarre the person’s action seems, it is rarely something they have manufactured.

Now you know that these drivers exist. The best thing you can do is start to identify them in yourself. Realise when you are being driven by an inner desire to react in a certain way and prepare for it. Once you know why you might be acting in a certain way, it becomes a lot easier to adapt and understand the consequences in an effort to minimise their impact.

Next, be prepared to spot behaviour drivers in others. If you can tell that they are being driven by an inner belief, consider how you might be able to have conversations that will provide antidotes. Often we do not consider how we present a message before we do so. Taking a little time to consider how the message is going to be received can really save a lot of time in the long run…otherwise your just banging your head against a wall.

You can find training course materials that help you get the best out of people from our website www.trainerbubble.com.

Team focus - How to re-set the sights.

I was at a training event recently and during the opening 'set the scene' intro the senior director in the company asked the group to list all the things that were stopping them providing a good service to their customers.

The team took great pleasure in listing all the concerns: Morale, time, work pressures, customer issues, the products etc etc.

The director gleefully added each and every comment to the flipchart and when no more issues were given he looked up and said.."I have only one problem with this list......." He let the question hang in the air for a few seconds and when the team's started to look around non-plussed, he said, "You're not on it!"

It may not have been what they wanted to hear, but Wow, did it have an effect.

Identifying a team members complacency is often the key to re-generating a workforce, it's a common problem and one that can have disastrous effects. In my experience, there tends to be two main reasons behind it.

1. The team member has been doing extremely well and has taken their eye off the ball.

2. The team member is not doing as well as his counterparts and so feel de-motivated and unable to achieve.

In both situations the key is to encourage the team member to 'buy-in' to the business once again. They need to appreciate the consequences of their action, or in-action, and learn to change.

So how do you do it?

The best approach is to identify the team member's drivers, that is, what it is that makes them want to succeed. For some, it will be the desire to get away from how they currently feel, for others, it will be the hope of reaching a better future state. Once you know what approach your particular team member prefers, you can encourage them to work towards, or away from it.

Of course it's not always easy to identify a person's drivers without asking them. So that's exactly what I suggest you do! You don't have to be so upfront with the question, using coaching as a method of understanding is a great way to achieve this.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that through a good use of questioning and an even better use of listening you will be able to not only identify your team's drivers, but also help them establish a need to change.

Why not re-focus your management team with our great one day training materials pack on 'Leading Effective Teams', or help develop your manager's coaching skills with 'Coaching Skills for Managers'. At just £53 each, they provide a perfect solution to your management team's development.